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OBLIVERED BEFORE THE 



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FOURTH OF JULY, YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE 66, 






R, STEVENSON AND R. HOLSTEAD, PRINTERS, 

1, Mott Street, Corner of Chatham Square. 









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*• The following Addresses were delivered before the Youwa 
Men's Jefferson Society of New York, by Mr. Henry H, 
Hays, and Mr. T. Snow, members. We are right glad to see 
the young and ardent speaking so plainly, and wherewithal so 
well. It is a sign, a ' star in the West,' that will as surely 
guide to liberty and happiness as the fabled ' star in the East' 
has led to slavery and debasement. We perceive that several 
ladies have honored the Society with their presence, and made 
bold to declare their sentiments. Cicero's 'Thought unre- 
strained, and Speech as free as Thought' is about to be real- 
ized." — The (N'ew York) ExA.vtNEn. 

ADDRESS 

DELIVERED 

^Y HENRY H. HAYS. 

Having left the clamorous joy, and the noisy patriotism wi th 
out, we have assembled together calmly and coolly to examine 
the benefits resulting to us from the Revolution of '76. But 
I shall not say, as is said, that all was gained in that struggle; 
that we may sit down and quietly enjoy the fruits of it; that 
•11 is now as it should be ; that we are happy and free ! No . 
much as was then ("one, more yel remains to do. Nay, upon 



our unceasing watchfulness and vigilance depends the conti- 
nuance of these very blessings. There are those, who, to ad- 
vance their own interests, to satisfy their OAvn inordinate am- 
bition for power, Avould not scruple to barter their country's 
liberties. I shall show what are the benefits resulting from 
the American Revolution, and then slate some of the objects 
yet to be obtained. 

The state of the world, immediately prior to the American 
Revolution, is but a history of it for ages back. The world 
had, indeed, progressed in knowledge, true, men had some- 
times caught a glimpse of the fair form of Liberty ; some- 
times taken a stand against tyranny and oppression, but such 
instances are rare ; they were generally contented to be rid- 
den by king or priest, and, unless the spur was thrust too 
hard, they held their l)acks quietly for both. I said the world 
had progressed — it had, and men began to be restless under 
the arbitrary sway of aristocracy. In America the galling 
Toke chafed the necks of the people, and they swore to be 
free or die in the attempt ; noble was the cause, and glorious 
the result ; hard was the struggle, but it was for that which 
was dearer to them than life, without which, indeed, life 
was but a burden. They stood, an intrepid band, undaunted 
and undismayed. Tyranny poured in its thousands of hire- 
ling troops to crush the noble patriots; but how vain are the 
efforts of tyrants, when men are determined to be free. 

Look at the leaders and counsellors of the American Revo- 
lution ; mark their cool, determined courage, their magnan- 
imity, and their inflexible integrity. Look at Washington, 
Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Allen, Hancock, and Paine, 
with others too numerous to mention. Then see their op- 
posers ; mark their acting, ay, and witness their imbecility, 
their sacrifices of honesty, of virtue, of all that is good, to 
aid their unholy machinations ; and how do the base myrmi- 
dons shrink before the glory of the American patriots? View 
With your mind's eye the " Hall of Independence," t»iiere 



were assembled America's wisest and best men; imagine the 
Declaration of Independence read ; see the glow of patriot- 
ism on the cheeks of the venerable reformers ; witness the 
firmness with which they tread as they walk forward to sign 
the document; sec the fixed look cf determination as they 
retire from signing, it may be, their death-warrant. Shall 
the events of that day be forgotten ? In vain may fanatics 
attempt to check the mirth and throw a gloom over its fes- 
tivity ; the people will hail it with joy, and celebrate it with 
enthusiasm. The beneficial effects of that Revolution were 
not confined to us alone ; America once free, tlie world began 
to examine, to admire, and, in France, to follow; and there 
liberty was at first successful, but the noble design was frus- 
trated by tyrants, and the clergy aided in the attempt. Yes, 
the clergy aided in the attempt to crush the young germ of 
freedom which had begun to flourish in France ; and it is the 
duty of every person here to watch narrowly this foe to 
liberty, which can be completely successful only while the. 
people are slaves ; they would have a union of church and 
state ; and, were it in their power, they would again have 
this country under the yoke of slavery. But again in France 
has the battle of freedom been fought and won ! In three days 
did the people obtain their rights; in three days did they change 
their condition from debasing slavery to comparative freedom ; 
and never did the fire of liberty burn more pure — ^never did 
the people so completely triumph as in those three days ; for 
magnanimity, for courage, and for true virtue, they stood 
unsurpassed, while their tyrannical governors were sunk deep 
in corruption and crime ; since which revolutions have rapidly 
succeeded each other, and may they continue to spread until 
the world shall become one great republic. Having thus 
shown the progress of civil liberty, which had its origin in 
the American Revolution, I shall now state its effects upon 
our religious liberty. 

Prior to the Revolution, persecution, for opinions' sake, 



Twai frequent. The very founders of New England, who had 
fled from persecution, commenced the same work in its most 
horrid form. The mild and inoflensive Quakers were hung 
for heresy, and none were safe, unless sheltered by the wing 
of Orthodoxy. But the patriots of '76 knew, that to break 
the shackles from the body was of less moment than to free 
the mind; our Constitution secures, therefore, the right to 
every person to enjoy, unmolested, his opinions; no creed is 
considered so sacred as to make it a crime to question its 
truth, nor any so impious as to secure for its possessor im- 
prisonment or death. Mere, then, in this country is the 
liberty of conscience secured ; here was the work of reform 
begun ; here as it triumphed. The thick fog of ignorance 
and superstition are disappearing before the bright sun of 
truth. Men are beginning to reason and enquire, and halls 
of science and temples of I'cason are erecting among them. 
Superstition is making her last struggle, her last attempt to 
keep the minds of men under her subjection, but it is in vain; 
" eyes once opened to trulli, can never again be closed," and 
men, once thoroughly freed from superstition, will never again 
be polluted by her embrace. Civil and religious liberty are 
both flourishing, affording ample proof that the world will ere 
long be freed from the fetters with which she has hitherto 
been so unhappily bound. I have thus enumerated some of 
the advantages gained by our forefathers. I will now slate 
what I conceive to be the work left for their descendants to 
perform : The first great object is a national system of edu- 
cation ; by which all could receive a good education. Secondly, 
The amelioration of the condition of the working classes. 
Thirdly, The proper station of women in society. Fourth!}'', 
The abolition of slavery. 

"VVhcn we reflect upon tlie numbers of uneducated youth 
in our cities ; when we reflect, that there arc thousands of 
children about our streets without any fixed employment, 
entirely ignorant of their duty towards their fellow being.s, 



possessing none of those feelings of tenderness and lora 
which a good education bestows, can we wonder that vice 
and misery exists to such an extent ? It is this neglect of 
educating children that produces so much wickedness and 
inequality. Our Declaration of Independence declares, " thait 
all men are free and equal ;" is there not, then, something 
radically wrong in our institutions that acts thus. in opposition 
to the Declaration ? All men are born free and equal ; at the 
moment of their birth they may be all equal — equally help- 
less, but from the moment they can distinguish objects the 
inequality begins. The one opens his little eyes on splendor 
and magnificence ; the other on wretchedness and squalid 
misery ; the one receives a liberal education, and is enabled 
to pass a life at once respectable and happy ; the other is 
thrown upon the world without an education, and destitute of 
any principle to avoid the temptations by which he is sur- 
rounded, and closes a life in the most abject misery, even 
should he escape the prison or the gallows. I am sorry that 
I cannot dwell longer on this subject, for it is the most im- 
portant of all I have yet mentioned ; for, could universal 
education be once fairly established, tho other grievances we 
complain of would be speedily redressed, and the condition 
of the working classes would be ameliorated ; but at the pre- 
sent time much might be done, and they might be enabled to 
enjoy a reasonable quantity of the pleasure they tend to pro* 
duce. 

The common argument against giving females a liberal 
education, and an equality with men, is, that their minds are, 
less strong, and they are, therefore, unfit to be placed on an 
equal footing. I need not bring arguments to disprove thia 
assertion. Maria Edgeworth, in her Letters to Literary Ladies, 
has fully exposed its fallacy ; and she, herself, with a host of 
others, are a triumphant refutation of it. But why is it that 
men, men of science too, themselves free from prejudice, 
should yet allow priests to work up the feelings, and alara 



8 

the fears of their wives, sisters, and daughters, often resulting 
in insanity and death ? The following extract from a work 
recently published, entitled, "Domestic Manners of the Ame- 
ricans," by an English lady, is much to the point, and deserves 
the serious consideration of all who wish to see women ad- 
vanced to their proper station in society. 

" The price of entrance to this little Eden, (Hoboken,) is the 
six cents you pay at the ferry. We went there on a bright 
Sunday afternoon, expressly to see the humors of the place. 
Many thousand persons were scattered through the grounds ; 
of these we ascertained, by repeatedly counting, that nineteen- 
twentieths were men. The ladies were at church. Often as 
the subject has pressed upon my mind, I think I never so 
strongly felt the conviction that the Sabbath day, the holy day, 
the day on which alone the great majority of the Christian 
world can spend their hours as they please, is all passed (if 
passed entirely) within brick walls, listening to an earth-born 
preacher, charms he never so wisely. 

"O, how can they renounce Ihe boundless store 
Of charms which Nature to her vot'ries yields ? 
The warbhng woodland, the resounding shore, 
The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields, 
All that the genial ray of morning gilds, 
And all that echoes the sorg at even. 
All that the mountain's sheltering bosom yields, 
And all the dread magnificence of heaven. 
O, how can they renounce and hope to be forgiven I 

" How is it that men of America, who are reckoned good 
husbands and good fathers, while they enjoy sufficient freedom 
of spirit to permit their walking forth into the temple of the 
living God, can leave those they love best on earth, bound in 
the iron chains of a most tyrannical fanaticism? How can 
they breathe the balmy air, and not think of the tainted atmo- 
sphere so heavily weighing upon breasts still dearer than their 
own? How can they gaze upon the blossoms of the spring, 
•nd not remember the fairer cheeks of their young daughters, 



9 

waxing pale, as they sit for long, sultry hours, immureu with 
hundreds of fellow-victims, listening to the roaring vanities of 
a preacher canonized by a college of old women? They can- 
not think it needful to salvation, or tliey would not withdraw 
themselves. Where is it? Do they fear these self-elected, 
self-ordained priests, and offer up their wives and daughters 
to propitiate them? Or do they deem their hebdomadal free- 
dom more complete, because their wives and daughters are 
shut up four or five times in the day at church or chapel?" 

" There is a people who will, one day, be very great ; I 
mean the Americans. One stain only obscures the perfect 
splendor of reason which vivifies that country; slavery still 
subsists in the southern provinces ; but Avhen the Congress 
shall have found a remedy for that evil, how shall we be able 
to refuse the most profound respect to the institutions of the 
United States." 

So said Madam'j de Stael years ago, and the evil yet exists; 
but the people have begun seriously to turn their attention to 
this subject, and see the inconsistency of declaring all men to 
be free and equal, yet retaining millions of their fellow-beings 
in slavery. An Indian chieftain, in his adventures recently 
published, expresses his indignation at the injustice of slavery 
in the following terms: " Have you, Americans, not professed 
to the world, that ' All men are born Free and EauAL?' Is 
this not mockery? Are not these very letters shaded by 
the crimson blood of your suffering brethren? Or '•re not 
Africans men ? Tyrant, does not your bleeding slave, whiie 
kneeling to you for mercy, address you in the language of 
human natui-e ; and do not you prove yourself incapable of 
appreciating that language ?" The prejudice against even the 
free blacks is very strong ; and, while on this subject, I can- 
not forbear giving a short extract from Duncan's Travels, re- 
lative to the separation of the colors in churches ; and it is^ 
indeed, strange, that persons, who acknowledge God to be thd 



10 

father of all, and to have an equal affection for all, should 
thus make so scrupulous a distinction. 

" I had occasion to remark the jealous separation which 
takes place, in this country, in the churches, between the 
whites and the blacks. None in whom a tinge is detected of 
African blood are permitted to mingle with white men ; they 
are all restricted to pews in the further end of the gallery, 
conspicuously apart from the rest of the congregation. How 
reprehensible ia such a scene, in the house and pre«ence of 
llim who hath said, ' Look not on his countenance ; for the 
Lord seeth not as man seeth ; for man looketh on the* out- 
ward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.' But, 
alas, 

' He finds hia brother guilty of a skin 
Not colored like his own.' 

" And even in the worship of the most High he must mani- 
fest his horror at such an enormity." May the time soon 
come when the distinction shall cease, and slavery, that blot 
on our fair escutcheon, be no more. Thus have I examined 
what was gained by the Revolution, and what are the chief ob- 
ects yet to be obtained. May common sense be soon triumph- 
ant throughout the world, and man rise in his majesty, throw- 
ing r^ the petty considerations that have so long claimed his 
i<' then shall the poet's musings on the future be 

When man's maturcr nature shall disdain 
The playthings of its childhood, Itingly glare 
Will lose its power to dazzle— its authority 
Will silently pass by-the gorgeous throne 
Shall stand unnoticed in the regal hall, 
Fast falling to decay, while Falsehood's trade 
SShall be as hateful and unprofitable 
As that of Truth is now." 

My friends, let the noble deeds of our forefathers inspire 
us to patriotism. And may we exclaim with John Adams, 
*' It is my living sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it 
shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Inde- 
pendence for ever !" 



u 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED 



BY T. SNOW, 



Wb now meet, for the first time, in public, as members of the 
Jbppersoh Sooiett. May the name, whence we derive our 
title never be forgotten. May we ever remember to do honor 
to the memory of the man, by striving to imitate his example 
in truth and honor—in our opposition to tyranny, and love 
of Columbia's freedom. From this day we must consider 
ourselves a public body. May we continue to progress ; for, 
proud am I to say, that our private endeavors, humble as they 
were, do appear to have effected some good. Ladies, you 
are our vouchers ; you have kindly interested yourselves in 
our behalf, and •' who, empanoplied with woman's aid, can 
quail or fear (in a just cause) success?" and that ours is a 
just cause who shall gainsay ? Your presence, my fair coun- 
trywomen, will not only tend to refine our manners, but will, 
at the same time, excite our emulation, and the endeavor to 
please and to be pleased will stimulate a mutual ii^provc- 
ment. I trust also that the time you may devo^<5 in listening 
to our deliberations will not be uselessly expended. 

The conflicting opinions of debate, to use a homely phrase, 
may be compared to the flint and siecl of domestic cconomj', 
from whose collision is excited the sparks of knowledge. 

We are at present but as the tender sapling emitting its 
foliage, but I hope in time that we shall produce fruits as well 
as flowers. 



12 

Thanks lo our patriotic fathers, among whom Thomas 
Jefferson ranks not the least, we can dare to enter boldly 
JntOj and to expatiate freely upon, every subject, civil or reli- 
gious ; the sceptre of the tyrant no longer excites our appre- 
hension, and the faggot of the bigot is extinct. Let us pause 
for a moment, and consider the situation in which our country 
•tood on that eventful flay, when our existence as a nation 
commenced. Open!)' attacked or secretly betrayed, she had to 
struggle through a painful infancy — look at her now, but yet 
in youth, and capable of contending " against a world in arms." 

What man is there whose heart does not glow with pride 
and rapture, when lie views his country's greatness, or who 
does not almost worship the heroic patriots who struggled to 
obtain and perfect it. But be it remembered, that this gran- 
deur can only be maintained by union, by an universal diffu- 
•ion of the blessings of education, and by strictly enforcing 
our " Declaration" that " all are created _/Vee and equaV Sur- 
vey the records of the republics of antiquity, (for they, alas, 
are no more,) and learn by their fate the inevitable conse- 
quences of inequality and uneven-handed justice. WTiere ia 
Athene ? ^\^aere Lacedemon ? Thebes or Corinth ? Where 
Home the mighty mistress and despoiler of a world ? They 
have faded, and, like the " baseless fabric of a vision," left 
" scarcely a rack behind." 

Do not imagine, great as are our advantages, that we hare 
nothing further to obtain. I wish it were so, but, alas, the 
insidio-ws corrupter, wealth, has already polluted the sources 
of our free ia=;titutions, and made one law for the rich, and 
another for the poor — has already inflated the pride of many 
to imagine, that some are born to command, and others to 
©bey. To oppose these tvTannical usurpations of our rights 
is the bounden duty of us all. May we never forget to enforce 
them by our practice, and never abandon them through fear. 




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